The Tarnished Angels (1957)

Story of a friendship between an eccentric journalist and a daredevil barnstorming pilot.

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

William Faulkner (novel), George Zuckerman (screenplay)

Stars:

Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rock Hudson	...	Burke Devlin
Robert Stack	...	Roger Shumann
Dorothy Malone	...	LaVerne Shumann
Jack Carson	...	Jiggs
Robert Middleton	...	Matt Ord
Alan Reed	...	Colonel Fineman
Alexander Lockwood	...	Sam Hagood
Christopher Olsen	...	Jack Shumann (as Chris Olsen)
Robert J. Wilke	...	Hank
Troy Donahue	...	Frank Burnham
William Schallert	...	Ted Baker
Betty Utey	...	Dancing Girl
Phil Harvey	...	Telegraph Editor
Steve Drexel	...	Young Man
Eugene Borden	...	Claude Mollet

Storyline

In the 1930's, a First World War flying ace named Roger Schumann is reduced to making appearances on the crash-and-burn circuit of stunt aerobatics. His family are forced to live like dogs while Shumann pursues his only true love, the airplane. When Burke Devlin, a reporter, shows up on the scene to do a "whatever happened to" story on Shumann, he is repulsed by the war hero's diminished circumstances and, conversely, drawn to his stunning wife, LaVerne.

---

Plot Keywords:

1930s | new orleans louisiana | airplane race | based on novel | aerial camera shot | 

---

Taglines:

The exciting stars of 'WRITTEN ON THE WIND"

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

Douglas Sirk reportedly stated in an interview this was the best film he directed.

---

Goofs

When Laverne does her parachute jump, she is seen in close shots hanging by her arms from a trapeze-style bar. However in the longer shots, she is seen to be in a normal parachute harness as she lands.

---

Quotes

Jiggs: Why, you dirty, no-good louse!

---

Connections

Featured in Infernal Circle: Bill Krohn on Douglas Sirk's 'The Tarnished Angels' (2008)

---

Soundtracks

Old Folks at Home
(uncredited)
Written by Stephen Foster

User Reviews

Crying circus

Great for me to see this rarely-scheduled Douglas Sirk melodrama from his rich, late 50's period and it didn't disappoint. Taking as its subject the uncommon lifestyles of the participants in the popular flying-circus entertainments of the 20's and 30's, it's not long before the familiar Sirk themes of conflicting passions, human weakness and sacrifice raise their heads above the parapet.

For some reason shot in black and white, perhaps to better enhance the period setting, I still firmly believe that all Sirk's work should be seen in glorious colour, no one filled these CinemaScope screens better than he in the affluent 50's. Only just lasting 90 minutes, it crams a lot into its time-frame, drawing convincing character-sketches of the lead parties, Rock Hudson's maverick journalist, generous of spirit and loquacious but seeking love in the person of the beautiful, sexy Dorothy Malone parachutist extraordinaire, she frustrated by the lack of attention she and her son get from her obsessive pilot husband Robert Stack, who'd rather fly above the clouds than engage with earth-dwellers. Throw in his grease-monkey Jack Carson who may have had a fling with Malone in the past and hangs around as much for the scraps she throws him as his duty to Stack and a Mr Big aircraft-owner with designs of his own on Malone and you have an eternal quadrangle ripe for tragedy.

Sure enough, it happens along and spectacularly too, straightening out the lives of the survivors, even if not, I suspect for the better. The acting is first rate, Hudson again showing the depth that Sirk always seemed to draw out of him, handling long-speeches and a drunken scene with ease. Stack again displays his facility for acting against type, playing another emotionally stunted individual masquerading behind his good looks and bravura outlook. Malone however is the epicentre of the movie, the action revolves all around her and it's no wonder with her sexiness and sense of vulnerability, a killer combination for the menfolk here.

Sirk's direction is excellent, juxtaposing thrilling action sequences in the air with oddly contrasting backgrounds - it's no coincidence that the drama is played out in New Orleans at Mardi-Gras time, with the use of masks often showing up in foreground and background as a metaphor for the concealed passions on display here. There are several memorable scenes, like when Hudson and Malone's first illicit kiss is disturbed jarringly by a masked party-goer and Stack's adoring son trapped on a fairground airplane-ride just as his father loses control of his real-life plane.

So there you have it, another engrossing examination of fallible individuals, expertly purveyed by the best Hollywood director of drama in the 50's. Not as soap-sudsy as some of Sirk's other movies of the period, perhaps due to the literary source of the story, but engrossing from take-off to landing.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 December 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pylon

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,788

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1